1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to treadmills, and more specifically to treadmills incorporating apparatus for exercising the upper body of the user, alone or in association with movement on the treadmill.
2. State of the Art
In recent years, motorized treadmills become increasingly popular as a means for obtaining beneficial aerobic exercise. Many improvements to treadmills have been introduced to enhance their utility and broaden their appeal, including inclination and speed adjustments, programmed and programmable exercise routines, shock absorption, pulse monitoring and "dead man" shutoff switches for safety.
When exercising on a typical motorized treadmill, the user normally employs muscle groups in the lower body. Such machines have specifically not addressed the needs of the user to exercise the upper body. Recently issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,117, (Fisher et al.), discloses a treadmill with moveable handles to be grasped by the user for exercising the upper body of the user while walking on the treadmill belt. The device of the '117 patent, which also is exemplified by the STRIDER treadmill line offered by Fitness Trend/Systems, Inc. of Independence, Mo., employs spring-loaded handles pivotally mounted on each side of the treadmill belt in the middle of the treadmill. The handles also extend upwardly through the side surfaces or chassis adjacent the treadmill belt. The handles are biased against pivotal movement in both forward and backward directions toward a central, neutral position.
The device of the '117 patent, while an advance in the treadmill art, falls short of an ideal treadmill with upper body exerciser. For example, the force to be applied to the handles by the user is difficult to adjust, as it requires the user to lift up the treadmill from the floor and adjust set screws or nuts from the inside of the longitudinal treadmill side frame elements or side surfaces.
Further, the handles of the treadmill shown in the '117 patent extend upwardly through the side surfaces or chassis at the middle of the treadmill and thereby inhibit the user from easily stepping from the tread onto the side surfaces to dismount from a moving tread. Similarly, the handles prevent the user from straddling the tread or stepping on the side surface in the process of mounting the treadmill and especially a treadmill with a moving tread. That is, the user typically prefers to step onto the moving tread at or forward of the midpoint so that the user has time to begin walking or jogging before reaching the tail roller or pulley.